Indic Religiosity Scale: Developing and Validating an Indian Religiosity Scale

Abstract

The religiosity of one of the world's most populous countries and of its people who constitute the largest diaspora in the world – India, has been ill-researched and ill-captured. A religiosity scale that is grounded in a theoretical understanding of the Indic religions – religions which originated in India – needs to be developed. This scale should demonstrate validity and reliability, besides being parsimonious. An Indic Religiosity Scale based on the commonalities of the major Indic religions – Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism – is developed and validated as a measure for crosscultural studies on religiosity. A 15-item construct with five factors emerged as a valid and reliable measure of religiosity. The five factors include Way of Life; Belief in Rebirth, Karma and Destiny; Existence of Supreme Power; Importance of Prayer and Purposeful Life. The Indic Religiosity Scale (IRS) – with its parsimony and ease of use – can be used in multiple managerial contexts and organizational settings including cross-cultural settings, involving religiosity as a construct.